http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060503/ap_on_re_us/soft_drinks_schools

Though it is a step in the right direction, of what good would it be to get milk from the vending machines instead of coke

I hate this shit. I really do. Though luckily I'm not going to a public school.

I think its a good idea long overdue. Any attempt at improving the health of kids today should be applauded.

At my school, they turned off the pop machines during the day, so all you could get was water, milk, juice, etc.

And I concur, I hate this shit too - I remember reading in the USA Today last year how lawyers were bringing class-action lawsuits against PepsiCo and Coca-Cola for the obesity epidemic...absolutely crazy shit.

Besides, its not like the kids aren't going to go to Taco Bell or Pizza Hut after school and gorge themselves, or sit in front of the TV and play video games...

Oh well. I think it probably is a good idea, but there are plenty of worse targets for the obesity epidemic than PepsiCo and Coke (read: Parents).

And they should be able to get that stuff anywhere they want after school. They could probably even bring their own to school if they wanted.

The good thing is that it will not be accessible in school.

As the mother of a 7yr old who will be in school for the next several years, I think this is a great decision.

Apple

My daughter actually just did a research paper on this for school, and I was shocked at the statistics. The reason that schools don't want to limit it is that these vending machines are huge money-makers for the schools. Believe it or not, the number one opponents to any such legislation are the school districts, as they reap in thousands of dollars of income each year. Additionally, the companies lik Pepsico threaten to not pay the schools their commissions on the vending machines if they turn them off during certain hours.

Say what you will, although I agree that parents are still ultimately responsible for cultivating healthy habits in children, they spend an enormous amount of time in school. It's important that the schools play an active role as well.

Is it really so difficult to just drink water, fruit juice, milk, ... and limit soda, to not eat junk food every week but limit it very badly, to not eat candy bars all the time but eat more lunch/dinner/breakfast; to eat an Apple or another peace of fruit sometimes, to not take the car but the bycicle sometimes, to not sit at the PC/TV all the time, but doing something outside where you have to move instead; to ...
If someone would do all that, unless they have the 'talent' to become fat, that person would not end up getting really fat I think.

And they should be able to get that stuff anywhere they want after school. They could probably even bring their own to school if they wanted.

The good thing is that it will not be accessible in school.

.

As the mother of a 7yr old who will be in school for the next several years, I think this is a great decision.

Apple [/b][/quote]Bravo Bravo.

I have a hard time with my son. He is seven and he gets lunch everyday and unlike in my day, they now have lunch accounts where you pay in advance.

Lunch is $2.00 a day with milk, but he started taking Snapple's at $2,oo a pop. It took me so long to straighten him out not to get snapple.

this will make it easier.

The next think they have to do is get rid of the toys you get at all the fast food joint

Why don't we just force all children to wear helmets?

If you wanna limit young kids' lunches for health, ok. However this is stupid if it goes to high schools and such.

Society is being brain washed at a young age by fast food and soft drink companies and we will feel the results for generations.

Children are lazy, unhealthy , and want to be rewarded for just showing up.

I am not pointing fingers but we are all part of the problem

Give me a break. Being able to get toys from fast food places is making children lazy?

Sorry if I offend anyone but I think that's just a poor excuse for other problems. Trust me, Ronald McDonald is far from the big problems facing the youth of America today. I'd put Pop Culture at the almighty thrown for that. And if you don't want your kids to eat there, don't bring them there, period.

Children are brainwashed by strict schools, pop culture telling you how to act, and celebrities showing you how to be snobby assholes. I've experienced all three. Going to Burger King, McDonalds, and Wendy's my whole life never caused me any problems. I'd rather eat a little junk food every now and then rather then go through a dull childhood.

I don't bring them there, and my wife limit's the amount of visits.

However there are many that go there with or without children too many times.

And I don't think a child should be rewarded with a toy for eating. Maybe thats just me.

The toy does not make the child lazy but along with non competitive sport leagues it takes away the desire to work hard for a goal.

But what's wrong with it? God, I never thought I'd see the day people would be aiming to get rid of Happy Meal toys.

Again, I think there are far more important issues.

It's not the reward, it's the marketing concept that is questionable. I mean, did you never bug your mother to buy you some stupid cereal that you swore you would eat, just to get the prize? It's the same concept. Kids will bug their parents to go to McDonald's because they have the latest tie-in to some movie as the Happy Meal toy.

As a mother, of course I've let my kids have McDonald's on occasion. Unfortunately, I find that I'm the exception. My daughter was in her high school play, and rehearsals were from 5:30 to 7:30 four nights a week, and Saturdays from 9-1. I was shocked at how many of her friends' parents would just take the kids to the McDonald's that's near the school before EVERY rehearsal and for breakfast on Saturdays. It was gross. And I can't tell you how many friends she has that are obese. And I don't mean a little chubby, I mean over 200 pounds. And they're only teenagers. It's unbelievable.

A lot of the kids are dropped off at school for breakfast or buy their lunches. What do you think they buy? Half the time they're eating Dorito's and drinking soda, and that's for breakfast!! With so many single-parent households, or households with both parents working, I've found that it's fast food for a lot of families several nights a week.

I think that as a nation, we eat too much, we eat in our cars, and we eat as we run from one thing to another. We've instilled these unhealthy habits in our children, and the rising percentage of childhood obesity is to show for it.

If schools can limit what children consume during the day, then all the better. As I said before, I think it is a parent's responsibility, but I think that too many take it way too lightly.

Are you kidding me?

The sad part is this whole effort to keep pop (soda to you foreigners) out of high schools was probably started by lame parents. Parents who, being really lame, decided that they need to control their kids.

This shows that:
1) Parents don't believe that their kids will buy healthy drinks

2) Because of number 1, parents have now admitted that they have failed as parents, because if they did a good job, then the kid would make a good decision and not slam 6 bottles of pop between classes

3) This whole thing is just, for lack of a better word, retarded. Pop has benzene in it and instead of removing it from school, why don't health classes TEACH that its unhealthy?

I have no sympathy for the average teenagers. Being in high school, my peers have bled me of it. If you are too stupid to step back and say "I need some healthy self-improvement." then what's the point?

At my school I usually have one soda, lunch, and a sugar cookie if I have two quarters of change.

For lunch it's between Rib sandwiches, pasta, burgers, cold ham/turkey sandwiches, nachos, chicken strips, spicy chicken, and some other foods. No one is putting a gun to anyone's head. In fact, some still brown-bag their lunches.

As for kids annoying their parents for cereal or food, who cares? It's a part of childhood. That's like trying to limit the amount of toys any kid can have just to solve the mundane problem of keeping a toy chest in order. It's ridiculous.

Everything is becoming too sanitized. The next thing you know action figures will not be muscular or have weapons to promote peace.

They do teach that it's unhealthy.

But it tastes good. And if it's not easily accessible in schools then kids might have less of it than if it were easily accessible in schools.

And parents should control their kids by at least arming them with the knowledge of what is a proper diet.

And anyone who feels that parents who want proper nutrition for their children are lame, is obviously not yet a parent, and therefore not worth debating on the subject.

Apple

I think my school district had the right idea - turn off the machines during the day, but allow them after dismissal.

As far as being accessible goes, even if you can't drink the pop, why aren't they going after the snack vendors as well, which are just as bad (if not worse) than pop? Just wondering.

I know that our district didn't own the machines per se, but they were run by certain clubs or teams within the school (I know I was President of the broadcast club, and we had a Pepsi machine and a snack machine that we were responsible for maintaining, re-supplying, etc.) I'm sure that the districts get a nice piece, though.

But isn't that against the very essence of a free society? I mean, and I'm playing the Devil's advocate here, who has the right to regulate what we do with our time and money?

I'm not disagreeing with you, I'd just like to know why it would be okay to restrict these particular things, and not others.

Umm...the laziness, unhealthy habits, etc. all have to originate from somewhere, and while society is an influence, I think that the parents should share the blunt of the blame when Johnny is a spoiled brat, no?

We've gone from Happy Meals to non-competitive sports leagues?

Wow.

Okay, first, I agree wholeheartedly with Don Vercetti regarding the Great Satan, a.k.a. Ronald McDonald and his merry band of brainwashers who bring toys to children (I suppose we should ban Christmas and Santa Claus?)

As far as the non-competitive sports go, I agree to an extent, this whole self-esteem, new-age type deal is essentially setting kids up for a fall when they get out of school and into the real world.

But at the same time, I don't necessarily seeing the harm in kids participating in a non-competitive game in gym class or something, especially at younger ages. I don't necessarily think that it diminishes the "goal-oriented" ideals if the children are put into a setting where collectively, they have to accomplish something, but there is no real winner or loser, necessarily (sounds like Communism? :p ).

But its not like this is some new, evil Capitalist concept that has been created starting with Generation X. The toy-in-the-box has been around for ages, and the Happy Meal since the late 70's.

And that's irresponsible parenting. I know when I was younger, McDonalds was a "treat" that you had every once in awhile. But I think that children learn from their parents - ergo, I see people around here who can't get through a day without stopping at Tim Hortons/Starbucks for some sort of coffee related drink, even showing up late if the lines are particularly long (and the do stretch around the block at nearly every location). What kind of example does this set for the next generation? Are the companies to blame for putting out the product, or are we to blame for growing mindlessly addicted?

True, and I think that has to do with the disintegration of the traditional family structure - sitting down together at meals and such. However, I suspect that this trend of impulse-eating coincides with the rise in 2-income families, longer working hours, etc.

Agreed.

Ah, the infallible blockade. Looks like I cannot speak a word of it.

All I can say is that if I had a kid, I'd raise him/her no different then my parents did with me, and I think I turned out perfectly fine and uncorrupted by the bullshit modern culture pushes onto most of my generation. I think that's the measure of a good parent to me.

I think they should replace the soda machines with beer machines. :p

*cough* lame *cough*

Its pop, not soda :p

Oh my god! What a good idea! They should so do that!

Wait, no. No they shouldn't. That was a dumb idea.

Depends on where you live.

I'm still amused that in the New England area, a milkshake is called a 'frappe'.

Apple

It should be pop all across America. Soda just sounds so...uncool.

Pop??? Ha ha ha ha When I lived in Michigan it was always "pop." I moved to CA and asked a waitress "what kind of pop do you have?" She said, "you're not from around here are you?" Ha ha..it's been "soda" ever since. Nobody here calls it pop. I'm so use to it now, that when I visit my family and they say "pop" I have to laugh. I don't know why/who started calling it soda, but I'm totally use to it now.

TIS

Maybe if everyone agreed to start calling it "sugar-laden fizzy water," we'd be able to say it in unison?

Doesn't soda, or pop, make kids hyper for lesson? On the other side, however, they're zombies without it.

I don't see any harm in enforcing for teens what everybody did for nursery kids: milk and cookies every two hours.

I must ask, however, especially after seeing Double J saying "my school" and Vercetti saying "I'm not going to a public school", what the term actually means here. High school, or University?

If it's the latter, I think it's a disgrace that it is being banned. If it's the former, I can sort of work out a negotiated acceptance for it.

...which is, of course, just as well, for if I couldn't, there'd be trrrrouble!

I believe we're referring to public high schools.

Besides, there's no way they could get rid of the vending machines at my Uni, people would probably break down and die from caffeine withdrawal. :p